Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt was born in New York
in 1858 to a wealthy family. He suffered from
asthma since childhood and loved horseback riding.
Roosevelt attended Harvard University where he
took up boxing and wrestling. He then went on to
Yale Law School, but did not finish. In 1881, he was
the youngest person ever elected into the NY state
assembly, and went on to serving as their police
commissioner and as the assistant to the Secretary of
the Navy. In 1898, Roosevelt commanded a
volunteer cavalry called the Rough Riders in the
Spanish American War. After, he goes back to NY
and becomes their Governor before being elected
Vice President of the U.S. in 1900. In 1901, at the
age of 42, Roosevelt becomes the youngest president
after President McKinley was shot and killed.
Square Deal
Program of Progressive reforms
designed to protect the common
people against big business
Natural Environment
Ranchers allowed their cattle to
overgraze the Great Plains; coal
companies cluttered the land with spoil
dumps; lumber companies ignored the
effect of their logging operations on flood
control and neglected to plant trees to
replace those they had cut down; cities
dumped untreated sewage and industrial
wastes into rivers which poisoned the
streams and created health hazards.
1902 Coal Strike
140,000 miners went on strike and
demanded 20% raise, a 9 hr work day, and
rights to organize a union. Mine operators
refused to bargain with the labor leaders.
Five months into the strike, winter was
near and coal reserves were running out.
Schools and factories shut down, hospitals
lost heat. Roosevelt called both sides to
meet at the White House and come to an
agreement. Roosevelt threatened to take
over the mines: agreement was made for a
10% raise, 9 hr work day and no union.
Railroad Regulation
• Interstate Commerce Act
– Designed to regulate the railroad industry and break
up their monopolies
– Interstate Commerce Commission
• Enforced the new law
• The Elkins Act
– Made it illegal for railroad officials to give, and
shippers to receive refunds for using certain railroads
• Hepburn Act
– Limited the distribution of free railroad passes
(briberies)
Progressive Reforms Under
Roosevelt
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Anthracite Coal Strike 1902
Trustbusting
Pure Food and Drug Act
Railroad Regulation
Conservation
Civil Rights
– WEB DuBois and Booker T. Washington